The Witzard

Not trying to brag here whatsoever, but I've been on the Mayer Hawthorne New-Wop "bandwagon" since day one; I can remember seeing him on what I believe was his first tour behind A Strange Arrangement (2009) at First Unitarian Church in South Philly . Mayer Hawthorne & The County (which then, still included Topher Mohr ) essentially played a church basement to a room full of colorfully diverse concert-goers: Hip-Hop heads, "preppy" kids decked out in suits and ties — much like my buddy Brad and I, Indie Rock hipsters, and a handful of displaced Punk Rockers . J Dilla 's right-hand man, DJ Houseshoes opened the night's show with a barrage of white people-friendly Hip-Hop classics including Dilla , A Tribe Called Quest, Jaylib , and "I don't know why the f*ck I'm f*ckin' with you" (which distinctively sticks out ha). After the concert, I immediately bolted back to my car to grab my pseudo-alligator skin A Strange Arrang...

While I think my overall musical tastes are pretty cultured and broad-spanning/sound, I must admit that I'm not too keen on current world music. Honestly, when I hear "World Music," what first comes to mind is African Tribal drums, Middle Eastern Acid Rock, Swedish Pop , Mariachi, and South African jam bands . I'm vaguely familiar with Asian Jazz-Fusion , Grime, bagpipe-led Celtic Punk , and Finnish/Norwegian Death Metal. When I first got my learner's permit [license] back in high school, my buddy Ryan and I were driving all over New Jersey , searching for terribly assembled D.I.Y. Punk shows @ dirty VFW halls and seedy hole-in-the-wall bars/clubs. 1970-80's Hardcore Punk is generally associated with it's formative New York , California , and UK scenes... But I guess we, myself included, tend to forget that there are rebellion-fueled, aggressive, socially awkward teens all over the world! Somehow, throughout my 10-12 year relationship with Punk Roc...

About a year or so ago, a buddy and I went to a Mayer Hawthorne & The County show in the basement of a Philly church ( First Unitarian Church ). Highlights of the night, Presented by R5 Productions ... included a House Shoes ( Dilla -based) DJ set, massive amounts of zebra print, a set from delightfully Poppy opener Nikki Jean , many great Mayer-lead "New-Wop" jams, Hip-Hop heads and Hipsters, an impromptu post-show meet-and-greet/signing, etc. But the most memorable moment of the night was also a completely unexpected one. Mid-way through the main performance, County ax-man Topher Mohr took hold of the lead mic while Mayer stepped back into the folds of the band. The track [which I later learned was called "Ruthless" ] was instantly catchy... New, yet "throwback" in the same vein as the Mayer Hawthorne & The County collection. Soon after the close of the Mazda2 Tour , Topher unleashed "Ruthless" as part of a larger project - That o...